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Breakfast #56: Potato Omelet with Sriracha

I have long coveted my mom’s tortilla de patata “cheat’s”
pan. It basically looks like two frying
pans stuck together, mouth to mouth, with a hook to attach them to each
other. Although most likely frowned upon
by tortilla de patata purists, it effectively eliminates the perilous technique
of making a real tortilla. Now, I am
certain could, if pushed, manage to flip my tortilla to a plate, the insides
still jiggly and uncooked, hot pan dangerously near my fingertips, then
successfully slide this wobbly egg and potato structure back right smack in the
middle of my pan to finish cooking. I amsure I could. And I’m sure I will…one
day. But this was not that day.

I was tired and achy and craving tortilla de patata. Not only did I not have the awesome skills of
traditional tortilla flipping, I didn’t have my mom’s cheat’s pan either. So I had to make do with this.

This is, essentially, a cheat within a cheat. My sneaky way of satiating my egg and
potatoes craving (why oh why can’t I crave things like pink chiffon, working out, and trips
to the dermatologist?), without having to go all the way towards making a full
on tortilla de patata. It may not be the
best, or noblest, thing to do, but when you’re feeling under the weather, and you
are in desperate need of earthy potatoes in an eggy blanket, this does very
nicely.

And the sriracha?
When you are finding yourself a bit slow on the ignition, but still have
a mountain of work to plow through, I find that nothing gets my motor running
quite like a spicy breakfast.

Potato Omelet with Sriracha

A couple of glugs of olive oil

1/2 cup cubed potatoes, cut in 1-cm cubes or smaller (the
bigger the cubes the longer they will cook)

1/2 a white onion, sliced

2 eggs

Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Sriracha

– Heat a small non-stick skillet. Add the oil – you want a nice, generous
coating. This isn’t to avoid sticking
(as I use a non-stick skillet) but because your potatoes and onions are going
to slow-cook in this.

– When the oil is hot, add the onions and sauté until
softened. Once onions are soft, add
the potatoes and cook until the potatoes are soft and the edges are golden, and the
onions have taken on a burnished hue.
This may take some time. Be
patient and toss the potatoes occasionally so they don’t scorch.

– While the potatoes are cooking, break the eggs into a
bowl. Beat with a fork until a uniform
layer of bubbles appears on the surface. Like this.

– When the
potatoes and onions are done transfer them to another bowl and place the
skillet back on the heat. Add a swirl of
oil if the pan is dry.

– Add the eggs to the pan. As the bottom sets, push the sides of the egg a bit so the uncooked egg runs underneath.
When there is just a thin layer of wet egg left on top add the potatoes and
the onion to one side of the egg. Flip
the other side over the potatoes. Cook a
few seconds more then transfer to a plate.
Drizzle with sriracha and enjoy immediately.

I have an 8-inch non-stick skillet that I use especially
for eggs and this is what I use here, so these quantities are suited for that
size. I find that a 2-egg omelet cooked here
makes the perfect hearty breakfast for one.
You want your potatoes completely soft inside and slightly crisp along
some edges, and your eggs just done. Thesrirachais a fantastic condiment for mild yet stalwart flavors like egg and
potato. Plus, as I mentioned, a spicy
breakfast can be just what the doctor ordered.

I see nothing wrong with taking
shortcuts and opting for the quick route sometimes, as long as you don’t sacrifice
overall healthfulness. What are your
favorite “cheat’s”?

I like how simple this recipe is! I've always imagined fried potato cubes to be part of a perfect breakfast but strangely enough, I've never, ever had it for breakfast before. haha Relative to the margarine blocks that people assume is butter, "real" butter is kind of expensive so it's a rarity for me to buy the real kind. when the recipe calls for butter I use the cheap, salty kind and cut back on the salt. It's sad I know but the end product does taste good so I'm not really complaining! hahaha! 😀

Thanks for the great ideas! I definitely want to start cooking with potatoes more. Last night I made a similar omelet! I cooked the onions then put them into the egg, threw in a slice of provolone, then added some sliced avocado before closing the omelet. It was delicious and topped it off with some Tabasco (ran out of Sriracha, haha). I'm going to try this one out soon!